1. Field
The present application is directed to resettable circuit interrupting devices including without limitation ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI's), arc fault circuit interrupters (AFCI's), immersion detection circuit interrupters (IDCI's), appliance leakage circuit interrupters (ALCI's), equipment leakage circuit interrupters (ELCI's), circuit breakers, contactors, latching relays and solenoid mechanisms.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many electrical wiring devices have a line side, which is connectable to an electrical power supply, and a load side, which is connectable to one or more loads and at least one conductive path between the line and load sides. Electrical connections to wires supplying electrical power or wires conducting electricity to the one or more loads are at line side and load side connections respectively. The electrical wiring device industry has witnessed an increasing call for circuit breaking devices or systems which are designed to interrupt power to various loads, such as household appliances, consumer electrical products and circuits or systems branching from the device. In particular, electrical codes require electrical circuits in home bathrooms and kitchens to be equipped with ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI), for example. Presently available GFCI devices, such as the device described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,894, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, use an electrically activated trip mechanism to mechanically break an electrical connection between the line side and the load side. Such devices are resettable after they are tripped by, for example, the detection of a ground fault. In the device discussed in the '894 patent, the trip mechanism used to cause the mechanical breaking of the circuit (i.e., the conductive path between the line and load sides) includes a solenoid (or trip coil). A test button is used to test the trip mechanism and circuitry used to sense faults, and a reset button is used to reset the electrical connection between line and load sides.
Over the years circuit interrupting devices have evolved to include circuit interrupting devices with a reset lock-out function intended to prohibit devices with, for example, an inoperable circuit interrupting portion (i.e., fault sensing circuit and trip mechanism), an open neutral condition, or a reverse wiring condition, from being reset. Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,967, (hereinafter “the “967 patent) which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, describes a family of resettable circuit interrupting devices capable of locking out the reset portion of the device if the circuit interrupting portion (referred to as the “circuit interrupter in the '967 patent) is non-operational or if an open neutral condition exists. Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,558, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, describes a family of resettable circuit interrupting devices capable of locking out the reset portion of the device if a reverse wiring condition exists.
While most, if not all, existing circuit interrupting devices meet existing standards governing electrical fault protection devices, there are indications that next generation standards may require circuit interrupting devices capable of permanently interrupting the power supplied to the load side of the device in the event the device is no longer capable of operating according to applicable standards. Further, next generation standards may require automatic testing of the trip mechanism of the device and permanently interrupting the power supplied to the load side of the device in the event the device is no longer capable of operating according to applicable standards.